Was Mr. Griffith Responsible for Bringing the Redskins to D.C.?

[Brian McKenna]

Clark Griffith pulled NFL commissioner Joe Carr aside in December 1935, asking him to consider placing a pro football franchise in the District. A year later, George Preston Marshall worked out a deal with the Senators' boss for full access to Griffith Stadium and moved his club from Boston.

My question is - how much was Griffith responsible for the Redskins' relocation?


Maybe not a 100% baseball topic but surely those rental fees in part funded the pennant races of 1943 and '45.

[PlayJay]

Those rental fees during the war years couldn't have amounted to much...after all it was the era of NFL teams combining operations for a year (the Phil-Pitt Steagles...you can't make this up). They might've gotten more from the Grays...

[EdTarbusz]

I've read that Marshall was so irked at the the Boston fans that he arranged for the 1934 (or 1935) NFL championship game to be moved from Boston to the Polo Grounds. The next year the yeam was playing in Washington.

[Brian McKenna]

During the war, Griffith was making about $100,000 a year from renting the park to football teams - which also included colleges - Howard University, Georgetown, Army, Marines, Naval Academy and other local colleges.